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Sharing Your Tactic

A Sample Tactic Presentation
The New Tactics project is about both learning and teaching new tactics. 
We want you not only to think about your own work in terms of tactics 
and to learn from the tactics in this book, but also to share your tactics 
with others. Sharing tactical innovations benefits those who developed the 
tactics (by building their leadership and presentation skills) as well as 
those whom they teach.
A basic outline for a 40-minute presentation on your tactic follows. Use 
this outline to help you choose the information that will best help your 
audience understand and implement your tactic.
1 minute
State your tactic.
Begin your training with a brief description of your tactic. Remember to 
focus first on your tactic rather than on the problem or the context 
(there will be time to explain that).
Also, think about an interesting way to tell your audience why this tactic 
is unique, important or successful. Tell a quick story. Ask a question 
that will grab your audience’s attention.
5 minutes
Describe the context.
You want your audience to understand why this particular tactic was used 
in this situation. Help them do that in the following ways:
• Describe current or past social issues that demanded response, 
particularly those that will help others understand your tactic.
• Describe the process by which this response was organized.
• Outline the desired outcome for using the tactic, i.e. your goals and
objectives.
• Briefly explain the strategy employed and how the tactic fit into it.
You don’t need to spend a great deal of time on each of these question 
areas, but be sure to touch on each area briefly.
20 minutes
Explain how the tactic works.
This is the core of your presentation. You are providing your audience 
with the key information they would need to implement your tactic in their 
own situations.
Provide a step-by-step description of how you carried out the tactic. We
recommend you use a single, specific case as an example. Imagine a 
colleague in another country who is going to try to use your tactic. 
What do they need to know?
Where do they start? 
How many people are involved? 
What support do they need?
What resources do they need?
Remember to take it step by step!
7 minutes
Review the development of the tactic.
Talk about the targets: What behavior, institution, policy or individuals 
was the tactic intended to change or influence? 
Keep in mind that there may be initial targets as well 
as long-range or ultimate targets.
Explain the actual outcomes: How do the people involved describe 
the outcome and impact? 
Use quotes or comments from people involved.
7 minutes
Discuss what you learned and how this tactic could be used in another
context.
Explain what you learned from implementing this tactic: What worked? 
What would you do differently? 
What recommendations do you have for others?
From your experience, what factors need to be considered before 
implementing this tactic? 
What are its limitations?
If you are aware of other applications of the tactic, briefly tell 
people about how it was implemented differently and why.

Developing Creative Strategies and Tactics

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics
without strategy is the noise before defeat. — Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu’s statement, written more than 2,000 years ago, tells us that
planning without action is futile and action without planning is fatal. Today,
we can learn a great deal from the three areas of analysis Sun Tzu identified
so long ago to lay the foundations for success.
Know yourself
Don’t believe your own propaganda. You must have a realistic view of your
own strengths, weaknesses, resources, capacities and supports. It is equally
important to have a clear understanding of the capacities and limits of your
allies.
Know your opponent
Don’t believe your opponent’s propaganda either. It is just as important to
understand your opponent’s strengths, weaknesses, resources, capacities
and supports in order to seize the momentum and the initiatives that can be
opportune or even pivotal for advancing your human rights issue. Sun Tzu
counsels particular attention to understanding – and disrupting – your
adversary’s strategy.
Know the terrain
Terrain can be the literal ground upon which you will meet your opponent.
Terrain also includes the time or space, the legal, social and cultural
conditions, or the overall environment in which you operate.
When you have gathered the information you need to analyze these areas
you are ready to develop your strategy. Strategy is the gathering, toward a
goal, of many decisions, which may include:
+ key objectives and appropriate targets
+ constituencies and resources
+ which tactics to use and when.
A “tactic” is a specific or concrete action taken to affect a given situation. 
It is important that your tactics are part of and serve a larger strategy.
Getting started
These are some important things to keep in mind as you begin.
+ Work with others
Whenever possible, try to bring together a group that includes people with
different perspectives, backgrounds and life experiences. Not only will this
enrich the pool of ideas generated in your group, it will also allow more
people and groups to share their ideas and learn from others.
Agree to some basic ground rules for discussion before you begin. These
might include:
• Everyone is respected.
• Only one person speaks at a time.
• If two people want to speak, the person who has not yet spoken
should be given the opportunity first.
• All ideas are welcome.
• Disrespectful comments are not acceptable and should be
redirected in a respectful but firm manner.
• When you evaluate ideas, do so in a positive and constructive
way.
You should also agree to an acceptable way for the group to intervene if a
member begins to dominate the discussion.
+ Brainstorm freely
Get as many ideas out in the open as possible. Everyone should be
encouraged to contribute their ideas, and no idea should be dismissed as too
hard to implement, too simple or too strange. Without exception, however,
all ideas should be nonviolent. Nonviolence is the cornerstone of legitimacy
and credibility.
List all ideas as they arise. Some will be chosen for further discussion, some
will not, but don’t discard any of them. An idea that seems strange or
outrageous at first may on second look have just the needed element of
surprise. You will later need to conduct more in-depth analysis, but at first
the goal is to generate as many ideas as possible.
+ Document the process
Using the final page of this worksheet as a guide, write ideas on large sheets
of paper or a blackboard so that the whole group can follow the process as it
unfolds. Documenting the process creates a collective memory of the
experience, and provides an opportunity to return to these ideas at another
time or share them with others. Do, however, evaluate the risks of keeping
written records of your process.
Step One: Identify the Problem
+ What is the problem(s) that needs to be addressed?
+ To help you examine it in smaller pieces, list some of the key elements
of the problem. You will probably want to take on these smaller pieces
individually, working to solve the larger problem step by step.
+ Is the problem related to a particular behavior, institution, policy, law,
or individual?
+ State the problem in a single concise sentence.
Step Two: Identify your Target(s)
Your target is the person, place or thing you intend to affect.
+ Who or what has responsibility for the problem you have identified?
+ Who are the key actors involved in creating or prolonging the
problem?
+ Are there policies, laws or practices that prolong the problem?
+ Are there institutions responsible for addressing the problem? If so,
why are they unable to do so?
+ Identify one or two key actors or targets that your group would like to
affect.
Step Three: Identify your Goal
+ What impact do you want to have on the problem?
+ Briefly describe the desired outcome of your effort. Consider this: If
you had the power to make all things come true, what would that be?
Don’t worry about being too grandiose – that’s the benefit of group
process. There are usually optimists, pessimists and realists to balance
each other out.
+ How could the key actors or targets help you work toward achieving
your stated goal?
Note: This goal is likely to be different from your organization’s mission, 
but it is helpful to keep that mission in mind to ensure that the strategies 
and tactics you choose are consistent with it.
Step Four: Identify your Allies and Opponents
Keep in mind your goal and targets.
+ Who are your allies and potential allies – individuals, organizations,
institutions – in your own country or internationally? Why do they or
would they have an interest in supporting your effort?
+ Who are your opponents and potential opponents? Why do they
oppose your efforts or why might they perceive your efforts as
contrary to their interests?
+ Who are your current passive allies and opponents? Most people will
fall into these categories.
Finding ways to influence these groups of people will be an important
consideration when choosing your tactics.
Step Five: Identify your Resources
A resource is anything that is available that helps you to reach your goal.
+ What concrete resources do you have already in place? Think about
people, other organizations, networks, finances, and social, political or
legal conditions.
+ What connections do you or your allies have to the key actors
responsible for addressing the problem, as you identified earlier?
These are resources, too.
+ Consider how you do or intend to take care of yourselves (See: Taking
Care of Your Most Valuable Resource).
Step Six: Identify Your Strategy
Defining your strategy entails making a great number of decisions. In
completing the steps above, you have provided valuable information for
making your strategic decisions.
+ Considering the previous steps, in what areas does your group have
the greatest potential for making an impact?
+ Make a brief list of these areas, keeping your goal in mind.
+ What steps are needed to maximize your impact on your target?
+ Is there a specific order in which these steps should be implemented?
Do they need to take place simultaneously or in coordination with
other efforts? Do you have the necessary resources?
+ Discuss your course of action and how this action will help you move
closer to your goal. Keep in mind that your strategy will most likely
bring you to another level of action rather than immediately to the
goal itself. Be sure that this course of action is consistent with your
overall goal rather than taking you in a different direction entirely.
Step Seven: Identify your Tactics
Now it’s time to decide what tactics you will use to implement the strategy
you have identified. When choosing tactics consider both what is within your
capacity and what your priorities are. Take time to review the key actors,
constituencies, allies and opponents, as well as your and your opponent's
strengths, weaknesses and resources.
+ Inventory the tactics you know about or have access to.
+ What tactics might encourage passive allies to become active allies?
+ What tactics might help ensure that your passive opponents remain
passive, or even encourage them to become allies?
+ What tactics might stop or soften opposition?
+ Can your group do this alone or do you need to collaborate with other
groups?
+ Choose one tactic at a time for further discussion that fits your
strategy and goal. Each tactic will very likely require a more in-depth
discussion and a number of steps or even additional tactics for
implementation.
Step Eight: Evaluate One Tactic
+ Discuss why you chose this tactic. How does it have the greatest
potential to move you toward your goal given your current situation?
+ How might this tactic be adapted to have the most impact for your
situation?
+ Does this tactic make the best use of your resources?
+ How can you generate additional resources? Who else can you work
with? What tactics would you need to use to convince others to work
with you or contribute resources?
+ What other tactics would you need to use to help you implement the
tactic you chose? Is there an initial target you must address before
you can reach the ultimate target (e.g., gaining allies within an
institution before the director can be approached on a policy change)?
+ Do you need to gain the support of other organizations before you
begin to carry out the tactic?
+ Outline as many steps as you can toward implementing the tactic
effectively. Continue to evaluate your available resources.
Step Nine: Adapting Tactics
Refer to Adapting Tactics for more tips on adapting tactics.
+ Choose some tactic examples that you would like to explore.
+ What are the similarities between the tactic example and your
situation? What are the differences? What lessons can you learn from
the other organization’s experience?
+ What additional resources do you have that the example in the
workbook did not have? How can you use these resources to make the
tactic even more effective?
+ What additional obstacles do you face?
+ How might you need to adapt the tactic to fit your situation?
+ What additional information is needed and who will obtain it?
This process can serve as a means to generate new ideas for 
reaching your goals and as a good training ground for your organization, 
allowing you to develop sharper analytical skills that will help 
you realistically plan and assess your strategy and tactics.
http://www.newtactics.org/Symposium/Resources/CD-ROM/resources/
Developing%20creative%20tactics%20and%20strategies.pdf